The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is one of the fastest growing cities in Nigeria. It has a population of 1, 836, 193 (2010 FCTA Estimate) and a growth rate of 9%. Women of reproductive age account for 23% of the population (419,991). In 2009, 1, 926 women died as a result of complications in pregnancy (2010 FCTA Estimate).

Other data from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in 2010 estimate that only 20.8% of the married women in the FCT are using any modern method of Family Planning/Childbirth Spacing (FP/CS), despite about 88.5% having heard of any modern method.

About 69% of secondary and primary health are facilities in Abuja are situated in AMAC and Bwari. Out of this, 7% are either inadequately equipped or not well attended by clients.

Current Situation Government Interventions

Government set up the FCT Primary Health Care Development Board (PHCDB) in August 2010 to ensure focused and efficient Primary Health CareService providers were trained in modern FP/ CS methods in January 2011.

Responding to the high total fertility rate (TFR), the Federal Government recently announced that FP/CS commodities would be supplied free of charge to FCT and mandated that cost recovery funds be used for logistics. Access to these commodities and services is still poor due to the absence of budget line for logistics.

The FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) also launched the FCT free ante-natal care services programme and scaling up to all the Area Councils in November 2010.

Fact Sheet

Sustaining Free Family Planning/Childbirth Spacing Services through Adequate Funding Processes in FCT

Family Planning Provider at Kubwa General Hospital counseling client

Actions Required

The AMAC Chairman should advocate for family planning and adequately support it

The Executive Secretary, FCT PHCDB and Honourable Secretary Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) should defend and facilitate the approval and implementation of the budget

The Emirs of Garki, Jiwa, Karshi and Karu should continue to speak publicly in support of family planning/childbirth spacing and advocate to their Area Council Chairmen to allocate funds for family planning/childbirth spacing services

The Honourable Minister for FCT should include the proposed budget line for family planning in the 2011 Supplementary Budget and kindly approve adequate budgetary funding for family planning

The Bwari Area Council Chairman should speak publicly in support of FP/CS in Bwari

The Emir of Bwari and Esu should continue to speak publicly in support of family planning/childbirth spacing and advocate to their Area Council Chairmen to allocate funds for family planning.

Definition of Terms

Family Planning / Childbirth Spacing - An informed decision by an individual or a couple on how many children to have and when to have them and using modern contraceptive methods to adequately space pregnancies.

Maternal Mortality - Death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of childbirth or termination of pregnancy.

Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - Percentage of women between 15-49 years who are practicing or whose sexual partners are practicing any form of contraception.

Urban Poor: Women of reproductive age in the poorest, poorer and middle wealth groups (as defined by NDHS) living in urban areas.

Reproductive Age: Generally defined as women aged 15 - 49 years and men 15 - 59 years.

Contraceptive - A device or drug which can be used to delay/space pregnancy by preventing conception.

Safe Motherhood - A set of interventions that work to ensure the survival, health and wellbeing of a mother and her newborn from conception through childbirth and infancy. Also includes the transference of meaningful information and skill to achieve adequate spacing and number of pregnancies according to the desires of the mother.

Unmet Need -The percentage of persons of reproductive age who want to use contraceptives but do not have access to them either due to unavailability or lack of information.

High Risk Pregnancy -A pregnancy where the mother is younger than 18 years or above age 34 years, or where the time from the last birth to the next is less than 24 months apart or where the parity (number of pregnancies resulting in delivery) is 5 or higher.

Maternal Health among Urban Poor* in FCT

Contraceptive Use

Unmet Need

Place of Delivery

Delivery Assistance

No Method 76%Traditional Method 5%Modern Method 20%

Unmet Need to Space/Limit 13%

Home 43%All Public Facility 33%All Private Facility 24%

None 4%Doctor 19%Nurse/Midwife 51%Auxiliary Midwife 2%TBA 4%Relative/Friend 18%Other 20%

Secondary Analysis of NDHS 2008

*Urban poor refers to women who are in the lowest three wealth quintiles as defined by the NDHS.

The Challenges Family planning commodities are provided free to FCT by the Federal Government. There is however, a need for the FCT Primary Health Care Development Board (PHCDB) to set up a separate budget line for family planning. This funding should adequately cover training, data management, demand creation and infrastructure.

The fact that the growth rate experienced by the FCT is the highest in Nigeria suggests that there will be an increase in demand for FP commodities especially in urban poor communities.

© NURHI 2011